Film Culture is Changing, And It's For The Better
One thing that has really surprised me about 2026 is that this year has been absolutely huge for movies.
Not only have there been more hits at the box office, with both Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey being huge summer hits and grossing well over 1.5 billion dollars, it appears to be the case that more and more films are at the forefront of the cultural conversation. For cinephiles like me, I will try to see everything that I can, but for most people, film takes up a different space. For example, there are only a couple of films each year that manage to burst out into the mainstream, meaning that you could pick a random person off the street and they likely would have heard of one of these films, or maybe are even planning on seeing it. Last year, Sinners and Superman were at the top of that list. They dominated the cultural zeitgeist, populating the internet with memes, and encouraged the public to head out to the cinema.
This year, there have been many more. The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Michael, Obsession, Backrooms, and even The Drama have felt like events and movies that the public is talking about and going to see. As a young person, when speaking to people of a similar age at work, or at university, I’m hearing an increase in conversation about going to the cinema. There seems to be a rebirth of film as an important part of culture within my generation, and a large part of it seems to be due to Letterboxd.
Letterboxd is an app where you can log and review movies, as well as see other people’s reviews and find popular films on the app, and it has absolutely spiralled in popularity over the last five years. In fact, you can see how influential Letterboxd as a medium has become when you see film studios using reviews on the app to promote their films. Another great thing about Letterboxd, which has made film culture boom lately, is the app’s ability to help you discover more underground movies. Backrooms and Obsession, films which may have been considered less mainstream five years ago, have become breakout hits thanks to word of mouth on Letterboxd.
Moreover, films have also grown in perceived value thanks to the ever-rising demand for a theatrical experience. With The Odyssey’s advertising campaign leaning heavily on promoting premium theatrical formats such as IMAX, it seems that the unique experience of seeing a film in one of these formats is being appreciated more within the public. Thanks to The Odyssey, more people are familiar with the terms IMAX and IMAX 70mm. I believe this emphasis on premium formats has had a trickle effect, helping more people to see movies as events, spectacles worth leaving the house for, rather than waiting until they land on streaming. Another part of what made The Odyssey so successful can be attributed to Oppenheimer’s success. Both films have helped solidify Christopher Nolan as a household name. The next movie stars are not actors: they’re directors.
The fact that The Odyssey made so much money, and Disney’s The Mandalorian and Grogu flopped hard, proves that there is a shift in what audiences really want. If we return to the subject of young people, a very hopeful future of film can be found. Obsession and Backrooms, two of the biggest movies of the year, both feature young filmmakers who have a lot of ability to shake the industry right now. Horror is in, and it’s what the younger audience is craving. Kane Parsons, director of Backrooms, has been very vocal about his anti-AI stance. I’m seeing increasing numbers of young people reject AI in film, and it’s a very comforting feeling. From shifting away from franchise films towards bold and unique original films from young voices, to a renewed interest in the theatrical experience, and a larger role of cinema in the cultural zeitgeist, I’m feeling pretty great about the state of film right now.
Comments